Carver District / Newtowne West / Allison District

[whw53]

 I've seen the for sale sign on this lot last 6-8 months and figured that warehouse would be carved into apartments and the lot into attached homes - wow, this project could be really neat - the renovated factory building and shipping container layout an awesome ode to Carver's industrial past while also creating flex space for Carver to move past just being a bedroom neighborhood to VCU. I have a friend on the opposite side of the block, says this, right at the center of the neighborhood at Clay & Harrison  is exactly what the neighborhood needs. I hope the demand is there to really fill this space with interesting users. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/08/10/former-carver-power-station-set-for-mixed-use-revival-after-1-6m-sale/

ps. great week - we have some updating to do on the dev map dont we - i'll try to get to that later today!

Edited August 13, 2021 by whw53

[whw53]

 

On 7/8/2021 at 12:01 PM, whw53 said:

A 'Moore St portfolio' of undeveloped land in the Newtowne neighborhood is on the market. This is an expansion of what was previously only the tract closest to Leigh which has been on the market for some time.

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/KPpPxRALtfTFD5AAvYdId3zRENfQXp8Yy4aSRn__Yyg/Email PKG Moore Street Portfolio.pdf

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/Moore-Street-Portfolio/23281343/

Land is in opportunity zone, hopefully we get a bite here. Something dense like the Carver Square product would be great to see. 

A series of zoning confirmation letters filed last week sheds some light on the future of these tracts. Dobrin Homes plans to take the light industrial lots opposite each other at Moore & Middlesex, subdivide them, and build duplex style housing - 8 units on each side. 

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/c48698ef-a854-4c6b-b4f8-7fcf1c08a5fc

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/7ebf53cf-7b5f-4f2e-99ef-ce16edc74d60

The larger lot fronting the tracks off Dineen St is set for something denser - from comment description - 'Multi-family, more than 50 units. Existing use: Commercial. Proposed use: Residential. Build 123 apartment units with 123 parking spaces.'

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/20fb3929-8ad8-4f7d-bff9-0586749e8ff8

Edited September 19, 2021 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

 

A series of zoning confirmation letters filed last week sheds some light on the future of these tracts. Dobrin Homes plans to take the light industrial lots opposite each other at Moore & Middlesex, subdivide them, and build duplex style housing - 8 units on each side. 

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/c48698ef-a854-4c6b-b4f8-7fcf1c08a5fc

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/7ebf53cf-7b5f-4f2e-99ef-ce16edc74d60

The larger lot fronting the tracks off Dineen St is set for something denser - from comment description - 'Multi-family, more than 50 units. Existing use: Commercial. Proposed use: Residential. Build 123 apartment units with 123 parking spaces.'

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/20fb3929-8ad8-4f7d-bff9-0586749e8ff8

Wow! The hits just keep coming! FIrst - three projects last week in Manchester - plus more upzoning requests. Now Novel in Scott's, duplexes in Randolph, and some good density here in the northern part of Carver. 

Looks like August's break in the fast-and-furious world of development announcements was just a brief pause for the RVA real estate market to simply catch its breath and get its second wind for 2021. This really is amazing to see!

[123fakestreet]

14 hours ago, whw53 said:

 

A series of zoning confirmation letters filed last week sheds some light on the future of these tracts. Dobrin Homes plans to take the light industrial lots opposite each other at Moore & Middlesex, subdivide them, and build duplex style housing - 8 units on each side. 

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/c48698ef-a854-4c6b-b4f8-7fcf1c08a5fc

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/7ebf53cf-7b5f-4f2e-99ef-ce16edc74d60

The larger lot fronting the tracks off Dineen St is set for something denser - from comment description - 'Multi-family, more than 50 units. Existing use: Commercial. Proposed use: Residential. Build 123 apartment units with 123 parking spaces.'

     https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/20fb3929-8ad8-4f7d-bff9-0586749e8ff8

Wish they'd plant some screening landscape along Leigh, looking into the back of those houses and dirt patch with random cars parked on it looks so dumpy.

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

Wish they'd plant some screening landscape along Leigh, looking into the back of those houses and dirt patch with random cars parked on it looks so dumpy.

Does anyone happen to know the history of Leigh Street in that part of town? Obviously it was realigned - (I would imagine there were houses where the earth patch and the westbound lanes of Leigh are now). What's the history? Curious to know when it got realigned and why. OR - even if the streets general alignment was unchanged, why was that stretch from just east of Dineen Street to N. Myers Street was widened to four lanes, divided with a median? I cannot imagine that -- back in the day -- that was a four-lane divided street. (Does this qualify as a "stroad"? I know Midlothian Turnpike, West Broad Street Road, Hull Street Road, etc., are legit "stroads" ... )

Edited September 20, 2021 by I miss RVA

[123fakestreet]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Does anyone happen to know the history of Leigh Street in that part of town? Obviously it was realigned - (I would imagine there were houses where the earth patch and the westbound lanes of Leigh are now). What's the history? Curious to know when it got realigned and why. OR - even if the streets general alignment was unchanged, why was that stretch from just east of Dineen Street to N. Myers Street was widened to four lanes, divided with a median? I cannot imagine that -- back in the day -- that was a four-lane divided street. (Does this qualify as a "stroad"? I know Midlothian Turnpike, West Broad Street Road, Hull Street Road, etc., are legit "stroads" ... )

In looking at old maps, Leigh was initially a "normal" city street that started at 15th street which no longer exists due to I95 and went straight to Belvidere.  Between the construction of I95 in 1958, the Coliseum in 1971, and the Leigh St Viaduct (MLK Bridge) in 1976 it went to 4 lanes with a median, a dip, and added some curves.  On the west end Leigh dead ended at Hermitage as that was the edge of the city, initially the VA State Agricultural Society grounds, later Broad St Station.

After the train station was built it looks like Leigh still dead ended at Hermitage, but a new Leigh St on the other side in Scott's Addition had been built that essentially lined up if you drew a straight line off the original end of Leigh, but they never connected.  Obviously at some point the stretch between Hermitage and Boulevard was completed, would be interested to know if that was initially 4 lanes or was widened later.

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[Icetera]

41 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

why was that stretch from just east of Dineen Street to N. Myers Street was widened to four lanes, divided with a median? I cannot imagine that -- back in the day -- that was a four-lane divided street.

It was four lanes West of Hermitage until they converted to bike lanes a couple years ago.

[whw53]

Per BizSense this morning , Sauer has broken ground on the 4 story office building announced in February behind the Putney building. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/06/sauer-centers-first-phase-fills-out/

 

Article from February - https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/02/08/4-story-office-building-to-be-next-phase-of-whole-foods-anchored-sauer-center/

 

[Brent114]

Opus is really changing the feel of Broad Street.   It still has two floors to go.  These floor heights must be taller than the ones at the old Quality Inn site in Scott’s Addition.  The Opus has much more presence. 
 

 

[eandslee]

14 minutes ago, Brent114 said:

Opus is really changing the feel of Broad Street.   It still has two floors to go.  These floor heights must be taller than the ones at the old Quality Inn site in Scott’s Addition.  The Opus has much more presence. 
 

 

It’s also very prominent from my vantage point on I-95 driving southbound.  Looked awesome as I was driving through last weekend.  Very exciting to see. 

[123fakestreet]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

Opus is really changing the feel of Broad Street.   It still has two floors to go.  These floor heights must be taller than the ones at the old Quality Inn site in Scott’s Addition.  The Opus has much more presence. 
 

 

I drive by this every day, kind of wild that a building this big fit onto what seemed like a small gas station lot. Love it's "presence" on Broad though, need much much more of this. I feel like every property from AA Boulevard through downtown along broad should have at least a 3 story building fronting the street, w many 6+ and even 10+ stories. 

I also drive by the Stanley Martin project across from Maggie Walker every day too, they have finished clearing debris and are now doing site prep work.

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[Shakman]

WOW!  Definitely larger than I expected.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

Re-posting the photos of the two buildings - for comparison and to show how much RVA's cityscape really is changing.

The Opus and the Icon have really changed the cityscape along the Broad Street corridor when looking east down Broad toward the buildings.  The other new construction - while not necessarily as prominent - is contributing to a much more robust cityscape/street scape. The Ella and even the Summit in the picture looking at the Icon are part of the change - and if you look all the way behind City Hall in the Opus picture, you can see just HOW TALL the Children's Hospital actually is along the Marshall Street side.

These two pictures really show how much Richmond is growing - and that she is a city on the move. The entire Broad Street corridor is transforming before our eyes. I can't help but believe the best is yet to come.

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Brent114]

Back side, dusk

 

[I miss RVA]

11 minutes ago, Brent114 said:

Back side, dusk

 

 

Great picture, Brent. Thanks for taking it and posting!

We need to have a few more of these built along the Broad Street corridor. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by I miss RVA

[majors2410]

This shows you dont need a large foot print when you dont waste property on ugly surface parking. We do need many more of these.

[wrldcoupe4]

Yeah would love more of this density along this corridor. Downtown to 195 would be awesome. 

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Yeah would love more of this density along this corridor. Downtown to 195 would be awesome. 

Fully agreed, Coupe - especially if we could sprinkle in a couple of projects where developers secure SUPs and go past the 12-story limit. I wouldn't mind a few 14 to 17-story buildings mixed in along the way. I'm keeping it at those heights because of the NIMBYs - I think it would take an act of the Divine to get anything much above 17 stories built along this stretch. Even them, I'm guessing that an SUP for 13 or 14 stories would be much more realistic in terms of having a snowball's chance of being approved.

[Icetera]

5 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Fully agreed, Coupe - especially if we could sprinkle in a couple of projects where developers secure SUPs and go past the 12-story limit. I wouldn't mind a few 14 to 17-story buildings mixed in along the way. I'm keeping it at those heights because of the NIMBYs - I think it would take an act of the Divine to get anything much above 17 stories built along this stretch. Even them, I'm guessing that an SUP for 13 or 14 stories would be much more realistic in terms of having a snowball's chance of being approved.

I wonder if going through the SUP process is even worth it to a developer for only 1 to 2 more floors?

[I miss RVA]

17 minutes ago, Icetera said:

I wonder if going through the SUP process is even worth it to a developer for only 1 to 2 more floors?

Other than I guess the cost of filing, would there be any additional costs involved? If a developer was able to get a decent ROI for a few extra floors, it might be worth it.

[wrldcoupe4]

Time and risk to go through the SUP process. Honestly, we would be pretty spoiled if we were to densify this corridor with a bunch of 10-12 story building. 

Just now, wrldcoupe4 said:

Edited October 23, 2021 by wrldcoupe4

[I miss RVA]

21 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Time and risk to go through the SUP process. Honestly, we would be pretty spoiled if we were to densify this corridor with a bunch of 10-12 story building. 

Oh, I agree totally, Coupe. We really would be spoiled to have such densification. I'm greedy though - and I wonder -if we DID really start getting dense with 10-12 story buildings along this corridor, depending on LOCATION - if the city might be most agreeable to play ball with a few developers who wanted to put up something, say, 15-17 stories? Again, it comes down to "location, location, location..." but ... it would be wonderful to see a few taller buildings sprinkled in.

NOTE - the Diamond District or Great Scott's Addition or whatever it's going to be called - is zoned TOD-1 - yet the Richmond 300 renderings show several buildings 15, 16, 17 stories along Arthur Ashe Boulevard.

Edited October 24, 2021 by I miss RVA

[cbender32]

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eLRwKsx0yo

[Icetera]

5 minutes ago, cbender32 said:

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eLRwKsx0yo

I moved this over to Carver since it is a nice 3D tour of Ascend.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, cbender32 said:

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eLRwKsx0yo

Sweet video!!